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Constipated baby - advice appreciated

My poor little lad is having some problems doing a poo (if you'll excuse my frankness!). He poos about 3 times a week and he seems to find it really uncomfortable straining and pushing and then his bottom looks a bit red afterwards. He is breastfed and we follow baby led weaning. I wonder if he is having enough water? I do offer him water throughout the day but he doesn't have much - how important is this given he is still breastfeeding?

I offer him lots of fruit, vegetables and also foods like meat, yoghurt and sometimes pasta or rice but he chooses which food to eat himself so this can vary day to day. Is there anything else I could do to help him?

Yes, you should go ahead and offer him water throughout the day. Let him drink it out of a training cup or offer him sips off of your water. Getting plenty of water can do wonders for constipation. I would also incorporate more fiber into his diet and maybe try some prune juice every now and then (I always water it down quite a bit) I would also mention it to his paeditrician and see what they recommend.

I agree with DoubleSunshine. Water can be helpful and so can prune juice. Often times babies will become constipated when they start on cereal. This might be around 6 months or sometimes a bit earlier or later, depending upon how soon mom wants to start it. Cereal (and the pasta/rice you mentioned above) can bind the stool (cause constipation). When this happens, I encourage mom to try giving pureed prunes at the same meal as cereal. For a 6 month old this might look like mixing prunes with the cereal and breast milk, water or formula. Or maybe mom just prefers to give cereal first and then offers prunes afterwards (I personally liked to see mom mix prunes with cereal because then we knew baby would be getting both).

For an older child (one who has teeth and is "chewing" food) you could pour hot water over a prune and let it soak for a 1/2 hour or more. When it's good and soft, chop it up into little pieces and let baby pick up the pieces or offer on a spoon.

Prune juice can be helpful too, if you find your child really likes to drink and will drink the juice (they typically need more of the juice than they do of the actual prune).

Aside from the benefits of prunes, you'll want to be sure you're child is eating plenty of vegetables and some fruit. This can be steamed vegetables for the older child, and pureed vegetables for the younger child. If your child still eats baby food, try steaming some vegetables until nice and soft, then puree with added water to the consistency you like. You can then pour the pureed vegetable mixture into ice cube trays. When they are frozen, just pop them out and store in a freezer zip bag. Makes it easy to use later - just warm and serve.

If the child is older, you can steam the vegetables and cut into little, bite sized pieces. Flash freeze on a tray in the freezer (don't let them touch each other) and when they are frozen just put them in a freezer bag or a glass container with lid, if you want to avoid plastic. When it's time to eat, just pull a few pieces out and let them thaw, or warm and serve. The easier you make it on yourself, the more you'll serve your child vegetables, and the more vegetables he eats, the more "regular" he should become.

Does this give you some ideas? Anyone else have any ideas for alleviating constipation, encouraging a child to eat or drink more, or just making food prep easier for mom?

Thank you for this - today's pooing was without drama which is fantastic (you know you're a mum when you get pleased about you child's poo, right?!). I've been offering lots more water in the last few days.

I am really keen to ensure he does not get constipated again so I have taken both Kate and DoubleSunshine's advice and got some prunes. I'm also offering more snacks of dried fruit (he likes apricots) and veg throughout the day.

I agree Kate that handy, easy to prepare veg are the way forward. I'm going to make sure I always carry around some of these pre-prepared veg snacks from now on too so he has them available whenever we are out.